With Regards to the Women and Men who Fight On
Ease is evil.
Fight on:
Trying hard and falling short feels like a punch to the gut. But what’s the alternative. Half-hearted effort? Playing it safe? Ease?
Half-hearted effort insults your team and disrespects your potential. Great effort produces great satisfaction. Half-hearted effort is fully dissatisfying.
It’s better to get knocked down than sit in the stands eating popcorn.
Dare greatly:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
(Theodore Roosevelt in Paris on 23 April, 1910.)
Do something where failure matters.
Get in a fight where you might get punched in the face. And believe me, everyone who enters the ring gets a bloody nose.
There’s nobility in hard work. Fight on!
Congratulations to you when you:
- Continue to care when a closed heart seems wise.
- Pick yourself up and press forward when others quit.
- Pour yourself out after your efforts go unacknowledged.
- Thank those who don’t thank you.
- Overcome the bitterness of working harder than those who receive recognition.
With regards,
Dan
May I add one exception to that. If you are not going to fight for your team or you are just going to get in the way please stay in the bleachers till you are ready to fight. Some people are just meant to be cheer leaders, getting the band aids ready, getting the water. Not everyone should be in the main battle till they are ready. With that said at some point everyone needs to get into the fight. So while you are just “helping” pay attention to what is going on because someday you will need to be ready. hmm are we still talking about being a leader? YES!
Thanks Walt. It’s always interesting when readers add their perspective. Frankly, as I wrote this evening, I thought about the times it’s good to quit. But that’s for another day.
Best wishes. Thanks for being a regular contributor.
Wisdom is knowing when to quit for now and when to fight on. I’m looking forward to that one, Dan.
Thanks for sharing. This was on time
Best wishes, Tommy
Thank you for writing about me, because at my core I am a warrior: the picture describes exactingly what I was doing 3 hours ago during my martial arts class (Green Belt, halfway to a Black) and the post describes the kind of leader I am. People are always surprised that a 5 foot 2 inches,100 lbs blonde can fight with force, and what I explain is that leadership is taking the action when no one else will or can, like saving a women’s purse from the metro tracks on a recent business trip to DC,
Thanks Victoria. Congratulations on your achievements in martial arts and taking action when others don’t. It’s a pleasure to serve.
“It’s better to get knocked down than sit in the stands eating popcorn.” Tell that to Duk Koo Kim!
Seriously, one of the first rules of “real” (i.e. non-sporting) fights is “never get into a fight you can’t win”. Despite what Teddy Roosevelt said, actually nobody gives a damn about the loser -except in the one case below.
If you fight at (say) lightweight/middleweight, getting into the ring with Mike Tyson in his prime doesn’t show commitment, courage or anything creditable. It just shows you’re too stupid to know when to walk away.
Thanks Mitch. Just because you get knocked down, doesn’t mean you lose or that you couldn’t win. Everyone who tries something new screws up. I’ve been down many times. I’ll bet you have too.
Yeah Dan, but something I learned by watching others is in some fights, you should stay down. If you keep getting up, you keep getting knocked down until something happens you don’t recover from.
Hard work in ingrained in me from my ancestors and most notably my father and grandfathers. I just can’t get away from it regardless of how tiring, how sometimes painful, how sometimes my passion is low, how sometimes regardless of any hard work I fail. It is just who I am and I believe I have successfully passed these traits on to my 20 something adult children. Too often these days government, media, higher education and parents downplay “hard work” of any kind. It is so sad to see “less than hard work” and snowflakes abounding complaining about life. I will unfortunately like my father and grandfathers work myself to death because of how hard I pour myself into my efforts. Tough to break that cycle and not sure I want to.
Thanks Roger. You and I are in the same boat. When I was a kid, I was brought up on a farm. We thought life and work were the same thing. 🙂 Best to you and your 20 somethings.
Being magnanimous is easier said then done when people take disheartening steps. Thanks for showing me how to press on, and that I am far from the only person who has had such experiences.